Shavehead Lake
Cass County, Michigan93 acresView mapDirections
EGLE publishes the water-quality measurements for Shavehead Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- 70 ft max depth
- Limited data
Shavehead Lake in Cass County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8.5 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 70 ft. Surface area: 93 acres.
Shavehead Lake is a 93-acre lake in Cass County, Michigan with a maximum depth of 70 feet. Overall water quality is declining over recent sampling years. The lake supports 26 documented fish species including Black crappie, Blackchin shiner, and Blacknose shiner.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, EGLE, last sampled 2022-10-15. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Shavehead Lake covers about 93 acres in Cass County. If you are planning to stay, you can search lake houses and cabins around Shavehead Lake on Vrbo, or look for a hotel room near the lake on Booking.com or Expedia.
What Shavehead Lake is good for
From access and monitoring records, not editorial picks.
- Fishing26 species recorded
- Deep water70 ft surveyed max depth
Swimming conditions
No readingLimited data
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Shavehead Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Shavehead Lake
These are the measurements EGLE publishes for Shavehead Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Moderate clarity, visible to about 8.5 ft. TSI 46.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 8.5ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | No reading The nutrient that most limits algae growth in freshwater. More phosphorus, more algae potential. | |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | No reading The green pigment in algae — a direct measure of how much algae is in the water. | |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 46 | Mesotrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
Moderate nutrients, good water quality
Ask about Shavehead Lake
Answers come straight from the public measurements and survey records on this page.
Lake Details
Max depth
70 ft
Surface area
93 acres
Stays via Stay22
Stays near Shavehead Lake
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Top-rated places to stay near Shavehead Lake
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Fish Species
Click a species to see every lake where it is documented.
Fishing Shavehead Lake
Water Quality Trend: Worsening
Based on 7 years of monitoring (2016–2023).
Water clarity
Worsening7 years
Phosphorus
Worsening+1 µg/L/yr2 years
Reservoir Info (USACE NID)
Shavehead Lake is a man-made reservoir impounded by the Shavehead Lake Level Control Structure (completed 1960), built primarily for recreation on the Mud Creek; earth-type dam, 6 ft tall and 14.5 ft long.
- Surface area
- 93 ac
- Normal storage
- 260 ac-ft
- Max storage
- 320 ac-ft
- Drainage area
- 0 sq mi
- Hazard class
- Low
- Owner
- Cass County
Source: USACE National Inventory of Dams, NID ID MI00764 · Operator website
Nearby Lakes in Cass County
Frequently asked questions about Shavehead Lake
Where is Shavehead Lake?
- Shavehead Lake is a lake in Cass County, Michigan. Its water-quality measurements are published by EGLE and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Shavehead Lake?
- Shavehead Lake in Cass County, Michigan has water-quality measurements published by EGLE, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 8.5 ft visibility. Maximum depth: 70 ft. Surface area: 93 acres.
Is Shavehead Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Shavehead Lake?
- Shavehead Lake has a maximum depth of 70 feet. The lake covers 93 acres.
What fish are in Shavehead Lake?
- Fish species found in Shavehead Lake include Black crappie, Blackchin shiner, Blacknose shiner, Bluegill, Bluntnose minnow, Brook silverside, Brown bullhead, Golden shiner, Grass pickerel, Green sunfish, Iowa darter, Johnny darter, Lake chubsucker, Lake herring, Largemouth bass, Mimic shiner, Northern logperch, Pumpkinseed, Rock bass, Sand shiner, Spotted gar, Tadpole madtom, Warmouth, Western blacknose dace, Yellow bullhead, Yellow perch. Shavehead Lake is located in Cass County, Michigan.
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Where this data comes from
137 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2016–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-26.
Collected and reported by
- North American Lake Management Society
NALMS137 samples · 2016–2022
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.